


They Took a Midnight Train

by TerraYoung



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (Them taking a train to Texas isn't mentioned but there's nothing saying they couldn't have), (it's Klaus), Gen, Mentioned Dave/Klaus, POV Second Person, technically canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28330212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraYoung/pseuds/TerraYoung
Summary: Klaus, Ben, and a late night conversation en route to Dallas.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	They Took a Midnight Train

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whatisthiswhatamidoing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatisthiswhatamidoing/gifts).



You land on the floor of the train car with a pained grunt. You’re not sure if you should blame the cushy life you’ve been living recently or the over a decade that’s passed since training, but flinging yourself onto a moving train was _way_ harder than it should’ve been.

Speaking of _been_ s and _Ben_ s – you reach out a hand to pull your shadow up and next to you only for it to pass through. Right. You haven’t made Ben corporeal since you left the compound.

He manages to get himself onto the train anyways with minimal effort and maximum glare-age.

“Any particular reason we’re recreating a scene from the Boxcar Children?” Ben asks. He settles against a packing crate while you roll over onto your back. “Or why we’re running away – in the dead of night, no less – in the first place?”

You wave him off. “The Children were getting a bit too _Klaus_ -trophobic for my tastes.”

Ben groans at the pun.

“Plus, we don’t exactly have any money of our own. That chick with the limp and a missing finger –”

“-Margaret –”

“-Right. _Margaret’s_ in charge of the finances. Couldn’t have taken any money for a ticket without letting everyone know we were getting the hell outta Dodge _or_ waking them all up. And since the whole point of this was getting away without them knowing…”

“Y’know, we wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t started a cult in the first place,” Ben points out.

You sigh. “One – not a cult, Benny. Two – it’s not _my_ fault I’ve got such a magnetic personality.”

“Is _that_ what you’re calling it?”

“What else would I call it?” You realize your mistake as soon as Ben opens his mouth and quickly make a ‘cut it out’ gesture. “Nuh-uh. Don’t answer that.”

Ben rolls his eyes. “You never let me have any fun.”

“…We literally just jumped onto a moving train.”

“You consider that fun?”

“I wouldn’t consider it _boring_.”

“Those are two very different things.”

“To-may-to, to-mah-to.”

“That’s not what that –” Ben breaks off the sentence and runs a hand down his face. “Whatever. Do you mind at least telling me where we’re headed?”

“Texas,” you answer. “Dallas, if you want to be precise, which I know you love to be. Where the deer and the antelope play, and all that jazz.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the state anthem of _Kansas_ , not Texas.”

“Of course you’d know that. Why am I not surprised?”

Ben ignores you – nothing new there – and presses, “Why Texas? You’ve never had a particular destination in mind before.”

“Oh, no reason.” Your hand twitches towards Dave’s dog tags, but you squash the urge to hang on to them. If you play all your cards now, Ben will _never_ stop nagging you about “changing the timeline” and “potential emotional trauma”. And he nags you enough as it is.

“Quit the bullshit, Klaus.” He goes silent for a few blissful moments – long enough for you to sit up and find a crate of your own to lean against. “You wanna see if any of the others have shown up, don’t you?”

You raise your hands in faux surrender. “Fine. You got me. Sue me for being sentimental, alright?”

“Could’ve just told me that from the start.” Ben shakes his head. “I’d like to know if they’re okay, too.”

“And since when have any of us been great at talking about our emotions and other related topics?”

“Okay, fair.” He’s silent again – for an unfortunately shorter amount of time than before – then asks, “Assuming at least one of them’s shown up by now, who do you wanna guess made it first?”

“Betting bragging rights on it?”

Ben shrugs.

“ _Definitely_ not Five or Vanya, or we’d be dealing with another apocalypse already,” you say, thinking out loud. “You’d think Luther would be hard to miss, even with all our travelling, and if Diego were here he’d have found a way to throw a knife at me by now. So I’m gonna say Allison.”

“I’m going with Luther,” Ben announces, “but with the caveat of time travel having made him regular-sized again. That’s why we haven’t heard about him yet.”

“…And how could it do that?”

“It changed Five from an old man to a teenager – why couldn’t it make Luther however old he was before Dad forced that serum on him?”

You flop dramatically against your crate with a groan. “Ugh, I hate it when your crazy theories end up making sense.”

“It’s a gift.” Ben smiles, looking far too full of himself for your liking.

“And a real annoying one at that,” you mutter. You yawn and try to make yourself comfortable. “This train only takes us to the edge of Texas before stopping to turn around. Mind waking me when you see something vaguely resembling a cowboy?”

“Eh, I _suppose_.”

“Loving the enthusiasm, Benny.” You take off your coat, lay down, and then stuff it under your head as a makeshift pillow. Not the best sleeping spot, but it’s better then ’Nam. Of course, with the notable exception of Dave not being here, _everything_ is better than it was in ’Nam. “G’night.”

“Goodnight, Klaus.”


End file.
